WNBA Tulsa Shock sign sprinter

[RecycleMichael]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/article.aspx?subjectid=413&articleid=20100310_413_0_Former861950

Marion Jones, ex-olympic sprinter signs contract to play basketball for the Tulsa WNBA team. Sure, she is 34 years old and had her medals stripped by a steriods scandal, but she will sure add athleticism to the team.

I am taking my daughter to the opening game.

[Laramie]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/article.aspx?subjectid=413&articleid=20100310_413_0_Former861950

Marion Jones, ex-olympic sprinter signs contract to play basketball for the Tulsa WNBA team. Sure, she is 34 years old and had her medals stripped by a steriods scandal, but she will sure add athleticism to the team.

I am taking my daughter to the opening game.

Good move on the Shocks' part; She will be what Bob Hayes was to the Dallas Cowboys. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Tulsa wins the WNBA in its first year in the league.  

I plan to purchase season tickets...

[sgrizzle]

Their two major players refused transfer to Tulsa and they have a coach who's never coached women's sports.

No doubt they will be good, but I think the first year may be rough.

[bokworker]

I am not sure I get this move... Marion Jones isn't a basketball player. Sure she is fast but can she even dribble or shoot? Seems to me if the team is going to start making player picks from a PR perspective that they aren't serious about playing basketball.

Get some players in that can help win.... not just run fast.

[swake]

I am not sure I get this move... Marion Jones isn't a basketball player. Sure she is fast but can she even dribble or shoot? Seems to me if the team is going to start making player picks from a PR perspective that they aren't serious about playing basketball.

Get some players in that can help win.... not just run fast.

She was a point guard for UNC and started as a freshman on a national championship team.

[Conan71]

I am not sure I get this move... Marion Jones isn't a basketball player. Sure she is fast but can she even dribble or shoot? Seems to me if the team is going to start making player picks from a PR perspective that they aren't serious about playing basketball.

Get some players in that can help win.... not just run fast.

Apparently she can play a little hoops.  Every team needs a name or two to lend some legitimacy to a team and help sell more tickets.

[bokworker]

Apparently she can play a little hoops.  Every team needs a name or two to lend some legitimacy to a team and help sell more tickets.

Kind of like Michael Jordan could play some baseball.... yes she played as a freshman in college. What 12-15 years ago? I'll give you that extraordinary athletes have a better chance to succeed and maybe the novelty of her on the team puts some fans in the arena in the beginning but ultimately shouldn't the Shock be building the best team possible? I am a fan of the WNBA and women's basketball in general having had 2 daughters that played and one that attended a D-1 school on a full scholarship so I am not banging on the sport in general, just questioning the real value of adding her to the team when pro basketball opportunities for women that have focused on basketball are so limited. If the Shock had 2 players that wouldn't transfer to Tulsa then I would think you have a better chance in drafting anyone on the current UConn women's team to help you win...

[RecycleMichael]

We will soon see how good she is. Jones led the University of North Carolina to a 92-10 record over three seasons and ranks fifth on the school's career assists list, third in steals and seventh in blocks. She was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2003 WNBA Draft but never played for the team.

I think she will be a great addition. She is clearly a world-class athlete and in the pictures looks muscular and chisled. The WNBA needs some bankable names to help promote and I imagine having an older player would provide some leadership both on and off the court.      

They say that men get stronger up until their late 20s and women up until their early 30s. She probably hasn't lost any of that speed. I think she will create some matchup problems for Shock opponents, especially on the fast break.    

[Townsend]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/post/Former-track-star-Marion-Jones-joins-the-WNBA?urn=top,227243

Though playing in Tulsa for a mediocre team is far removed from being a star of the Summer Olympics, Jones can rehabilitate her tarnished image with a good showing in the league.

Ouch

[sgrizzle]

Mediocre? The Shock was one of the top teams in the league.

[RecycleMichael]

Mediocre? The Shock was one of the top teams in the league.

They won the league championship in 2008. They also lost two of their star players. Speculating how good they are is just that, speculation.

[Townsend]

Mediocre? The Shock was one of the top teams in the league.

It's a Tulsa team.  To anyone outside the flyover states that means mediocre.

[DolfanBob]

Four year starter and a National Championship ring, Five Gold Medals(lost) a little Fed time. The lady is a fighter. Lets give her a chance.
Still not sure why two good players would not want to move from Detroit to Tulsa but hey maybe Ms Jones can at least fill a pair of their shoes.
I am glad to see(at least I think) Nolan trying to tone down his Howard Schvinctorberger act. He is a very good Coach without all the PR rah rah.
There also is a player on the Lady Vols, Alyssia Brewer from Sapulpa who just may like to come back home.
Lets have some fun with this Tulsa. We may enjoy ourselves.

[sgrizzle]

Here's another take on it:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/12/SPH91CEERJ.DTL

Recent sports moves smack of desperation

Gwen Knapp, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, March 12, 2010

(03-11) 21:13 PST -- Which sports association seems more desperate? The WNBA's Tulsa Shock, who just signed 34-year-old convicted felon Marion Jones to rejoin a game she hasn't played seriously in almost 15 years? Or NASCAR, which embraced a "have-at-it" mentality earlier this year, and ended up sending Carl Edwards outside to clap erasers as punishment for deliberately causing a crash that sent a car airborne?

NASCAR gave Edwards a three-race probation, the silliest use of discipline since Michael Phelps' pot-related three-month suspension from USA Swimming during a dead zone in the season. It all means nothing. NASCAR had to pacify the general public after dramatic footage of Brad Keselowski's flying car went viral.

Drivers already had been told that they should mix it up, in part because auto racing needed some MMA-style panache to bump up the ratings. It would have been hypocritical to suspend Edwards afterward because Keselowski's car took flight.

The have-at-it policy reveals a pathetic need for approval, and a belief that the pleasure of watching auto racing can't sustain the sport.

The Shock's move is an even bigger admission that the franchise doesn't have much faith in its viability. Yes, Jones played point guard for the University of North Carolina's 1994 NCAA championship team, before she focused on track and field. The Phoenix Mercury chose her in the third round in 2003, a decision only slightly less vain than the Shock's.

Jones' new career is an insult to the athletes who play the game at the highest level. She deserves a chance to start her life anew after revealing that she took performance-enhancing drugs before her five-medal splash at the 2000 Olympics and after spending six months in prison for lying to federal agents about it.

Apparently, Tony La Russa didn't need a base-stealing coach. So Jones had to settle for a job that might have gone to someone who has played basketball in the last decade. She'll sell tickets, and that's the whole point.

But Chad Ochocinco and Evan Lysacek on "Dancing with the Stars" make better destination TV.

[rwarn17588]

It's a roll of the dice to bring her here. But that's the way it is with struggling sports leagues ... you'd better take a few risks to get butts into the seats. Standing pat is a sure recipe for failure.